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Govt to regulate rice imports.


The government will this week set clear regulations to prevent the import of rice into the country under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) amid fears of the crop from neighbouring countries circumventing the rice-pledging scheme.

The Commerce Ministry will this Friday organise a public hearing on rice trade liberalisation under Afta. The move is aimed at enacting a regulation to prevent rice smuggling into the country, where the price is higher than in neighbouring countries.

A senior official of the ministry said that the government may not allow paddy rice import into the country due to the high possibility that it would be combined with Thai rice. The origins of paddy rice are more difficult to ascertain.

Thai rice is known to be of a higher quality and commands a better price in the world market. The influx of rice from neighbouring countries would not only destroy the reputation of Thai rice, but create a huge financial burden for the government, the source said.

Another option to be considered is to limit the import quota for rice. But the government has found it difficult to set limits under the free-trade pact, and due to smuggling from the border provinces.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said the ministry will call for a public hearing to ensure that the regulation of rice trading among Asean countries is fair to all concerned agencies.

Under Afta, rice trading among member states will be subject to zero tariff from early next year. This has created concern among Thai farmers and rice traders due to differences in quality of the Thai grain and those of neighbouring countries.

Rice traders are worried that unscrupulous traders would import rice from neighbouring countries, where the cost of production is lower, and thus circumvent the pledging scheme. The Thai government has set a high price to help farmers in every harvest season.

Meanwhile, a rice miller, who did not want to be named, urged the government to cancel the bidding for 2.6 million tonnes as it would created huge losses for the government.

The trader said the bidding price was much lower than the current retail price. The current market price is quoted at Bt16,000 a tonne, but the bidding price was Bt14,000-Bt15, 000 a tonne.

Another rice trader urged the government to carefully scrutinise Thai rice farmers participating in the upcoming pledging scheme for the second crop.

There have been reports of unscrupulous rice traders attending the pledging in place of the farmers.

Source: The Nation

 


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